Birmingham, Jun 18 (ANI): Countries with high defence spending are in a better to withstand the effects of financial slow down than others, according to a new study led by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The study done by Assistant Professor of Sociology Casey Borch confirms that states with high levels of defense spending have lower poverty rates, less income inequality, lower unemployment and higher median family income.

It also demonstrates that the US economy is increasingly dependent on military spending, said an UAB release.

"Politicians always have assumed that military spending helps the economy, but there have been very few studies to prove that it's true. No studies have examined the effects of military spending on as many measures of economic well-being at the state level as our study," said Borch.

Borch and his team examined data taken from 49 states during the post-Vietnam War era, from 1977 to 2004, to determine the role of military spending in a peacetime economy.

The researchers reviewed spending on defense contracts and military personnel and compared it to changes in economic indicators over time - poverty and unemployment rates, median family income and income disparities. (ANI)